A comment to my Tuesday blog post from a young woman named Sandra gave me the idea to write this post about voting. Sandra is blind, and she had some questions — not about who to vote for, but literally how to vote.
…have you (or any other readers of this blog) ever used the touch screen machines with audio output? If so, are they accessible? This is my first time voting, so that’s why I’m curious.
I used the touch screen machine with audio output during the primary earlier this year, and it worked fine – very accessible. With sound added to the ballot, I put on headphones, listened to the choices, and punched a button on a special contraption connected to the keyboard. All by myself.
The contraption comes with a “help” button that explains aloud how it works, it’s not exactly intuitive but after just a few tries I got the hang of it. The biggest glitch in audio voting comes right at the beginning, when you sign in. Sandra should expect the poll workers to scramble; they don’t get many voters with visual impairments and may not know what to do with her. My experience is that they want to do right by us but feel a bit awkward.
The National Federation of the Blind (NFB) set up a toll-free hotline (877-632-1940) to help blind voters if they experience any problems at the polling places this Tuesday. Voting specialists answering this number are supposed to help the blind voter and/or the poll worker resolve the issue.
I hate to think this, but I have a feeling that hotline will be busy on Tuesday. A sighted friend of mine voted early today, and He told me that a man who is blind was there in line with him. When it was the blind guy’s turn to vote, one of the poll workers read every choice out loud to him. “Maybe there were talking machines there, but for some reason the poll worker helped him on a regular machine,” my friend told me. “I thought I read that all the polling places were supposed to be accessible.”
He read that right. The Help America Vote Act of 2002 requires “voting systems” to provide independent and private voting for all voters — including citizens who are blind or visually impaired.
My friend’s experience this morning tells me these machines might not always work! If something like this happens on Tuesday, and a blind voter can’t vote independently and privately, NFB says the voting specialists on their hotline will record details. “Information from situations that cannot be resolved during a phone call to the hotline will be referred to the proper authorities for follow-up action.”
The hotline is only running on November 4. For that — and many other reasons — I decided against early voting this year. I’ll spend my time in line on Tuesday memorizing the hotline number. With any luck, by the time I get to the talking voting machine, there’ll be no reason to make a call!
I’m glad I unintentionally gave you the suggestion for posting this entry — I’m sure others might benefit from the info as well. I had planned to vote early, but after finding out about the hotline, I’m glad I waited — just in case I have to make a call. I guess you do learn from asking questions! *smile*
Happy voting!
Sandra
A woman I work with said yesterday that “the only dumb question is the one that isn’t asked.”
Amen!
I’m glad you waited to vote until the real voting day, Sandra, especially since this is your first time voting. I really do enjoy going to the polling place, being there with all my neighbors, casting my vote. It’s downright American, and…inspiring!
My experiences with “audio voting” have been positive. It’s too late now but I had a head start by visiting the voting board premises for a personal demo. The personnel there were delighted to have an audio customer to practice on. In live early voting, for both primary and general elections, I found my local poll people knowledgeable. But there were not many voters like me.
My experience is related at http://asyourworldchanges.wordpress.com. The audio voting equipment is like using a talking ATM. Pay close attention to instructions as you might get flustered. Also in both my voting sessions, the voices were changed unintentionally. Remember you can ask for a complete restart if all goes wrong.
I hope your voting experience goes well.
It’s funny because for some reason in my english class we began talking about elections yesterday. “How will you vote on Tuesday?” One of my classmates asked me. “do they have Braille baletts?” My instructor asked. I found the last question kind of funny, but I guess it makes sense that they would think that. I began explaining the touch-screen machines with audio output and the special keypad. Surprisingly, one of the other students knew about these adaptations. “I’ve seen them before. You wear a headset and the machine reads you the options,” he told the class. “But won’t that take you a lot of time?” another student asked. “Um, I’m not sure, but I’d rather take longer voting than having to say my choices outloud,” I kindly answered. So, that’s my next question. Does it take longer to do the actual voting with these adaptations then it takes a sighted person? Again, I’m not concerned about how long it takes, but I’m just curious.
I took my friend Brian to vote in Alexandria, VA on Saturday. Our machines have a dial that you use like a mouse on the computer to highlight your selection and then a buttom to click to make the selection. The voice assist worked pretty well (I only heard a couple of mild expletives) and the whole process took just a few minutes, really not much longer than it took me to vote the ‘regular’ way. The election officials were nearby and willing to help if needed and in Virginia, and I assume elsewhere too, you can take someone into the booth with you, if you choose to.
By all means, Vote, and don’t be deterred by the hardware!
Hello Beth. I just received a forward from my brother with a link to your blog. I only got to vote once so far using an audio ballot, but the experience was most rewarding indeed. Oddly enough though, that was two years ago and last year when I voted in my state’s local elections the audio ballot was supposedly not working. That’s interesting about the hotline. I admittedly don’t agree with most of the NFB’s viewpoints, but if this hotline really does what it claims to do then it’s a step in the right direction. Let’s hope tomorrow yields a positive experience for me. I will report back. I’d like to close by saying that I had originally not planned on voting at all tomorrow even if an audio ballot is available and working. The primary reason for this is that my state is ranked lowest in terms of services for people with special needs. I think particularly in my area, there doesn’t seem to be much in the way of good publicity for our population. But I suppose one never knows what could happen. Just as an example, I have to have someone accompany me to vote even if there is a working audio or Braille ballot. The streets around me are very congested, and like I said publicity for our population is lacking. Okay, I’ll get off my soap box for now. Happy voting!
To “Slger”: Thanks for leaving your blog address, I just linked to it and your description of the sounds — and the feelings — of audio voting is spot on.
Hank, thanks for letting us know how it alllooks, so to speak, from your perspective.
And Jake, I am oh so glad you are voting this time, it’s one step you can take to improve things! I’m curious –what state do you live in?
Yes indeed! The blog was certainly helpful in giving me an idea of how the accessible voting experience is. Tomorrow’s the big day, so I’ll let everyone know how it worked out. With any luck, the workers at my poling place will figure out how to work the equipment — I know that this may take some time for them. My mom will be going to vote as well, so in case we are having major difficulties she can assist me.
Sandra
Beth, I live in Illinois, in South Evanston.
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